"The final three weeks of this campaign are going to be, to quote Thomas Hobbes, 'nasty, brutish, and short.'" - that's the view of federal Conservative national campaign co-chairs Michael Fortier and John Reynolds in an email sent to candidates earlier today. Messrs. Fortier and Reynolds also attribute the Tories' present success to party leader Stephen Harper, his advisors and "the discipline and professionalism of our local campaigns." Translation: there have been no foot-in-mouth incidents to-date. Absent from that list - but perhaps more relevant - is the Liberal's astounding talent for committing anatomically impossible acts. But we digress. The email concludes with a commitment to continue to "run a positive, ideas-based campaign" - which surely explains the menacing music accompanying the party's latest online commercial. The following is a complete copy of that message.

Memorandum to all candidates and campaign managers

December 30, 2005

John Reynolds and Michael Fortier, National Campaign Co-Chairs

Dear candidates,

We have had a great start to our election campaign. In our more than thirty-five years in politics, we have never seen a more ideas-filled campaign and such a focused and disciplined team. No matter where we go across the country we see driven candidates, volunteers full of hope, a party confident in itself, and a rock-solid platform filled with ideas that are clearly superior to those of our opponents.

The success of our campaign has been due in large part to three things: Stephen Harper's leadership, the team with which he has surrounded himself, and the discipline and professionalism of our local campaigns. There is near universal agreement that we are running a first-rate show. We must continue on this track right up to January 23rd.

The final three weeks of this campaign are going to be, to quote Thomas Hobbes, "nasty, brutish, and short." The Liberals will be stepping up their campaign of negative and personal attacks on our leader and our party. We'll see more ads like those we saw in the last campaign - guns pointed into people's faces and dishonest visual misrepresentations of our policies.

Paul Martin began this negative campaign by accusing Stephen Harper of being unfit for public life. His supporters have followed suit by attacking Conservative candidates in personal and unacceptable ways. And there will be more. In the last election, they got away with such unsubstantiated attacks. But it will not happen again. This time we will vigorously defend ourselves. We will hit back quickly - with facts. To quote Stephen Harper, "we'll be tough, and it won't all be pretty. But these people want to play a dirty game." In this vein, today we released a new television advertisement. It is called, They'll go neg. The advertisement forewarns Canadians of the negative Liberal campaign that is about to be unleashed in the new year. You can preview the advertisement at www.conservative.ca/ad.

Ladies and gentlemen, for three weeks Stephen Harper and the Conservative Party have run a positive, ideas-based campaign. We intend to continue doing so for as long as we can and in spite of the escalating negative and personal attacks on our leader and our party. We encourage all of you to ignore these attacks. Keep your eye focused clearly on the ultimate goal: defeating a corrupt Liberal government and restoring accountability in Ottawa.

Please accept our best wishes for the remainder of the holiday season, and to all of you a happy new year.

Sincerely,

John Reynolds and Michael Fortier

National Campaign Co-Chairs

Conservative Campaign 2006